CRANSTON — Carrying signs that read “We are all human” and “No one is illegal,” about 40 community activists and students gathered in the cold yesterday evening to chant, cheer and draw attention to the plight of some of their friends.

They also came with a demand: that racial profiling and immigration enforcement by local and state police officers end.

“Our brothers and sisters are being targeted and chased around,” said Mary Kay Harris, of Direct Action for Rights and Equality, a Providence-based advocacy group for low-income families of color. “We’re saying that has to stop.”

Organizers said the gathering was a direct response to “a rash of incidents” in which Latinos and other minority group members have been stopped “with little or no justification” or tricked into going to immigration authorities so they can be deported.

The protest was held at the edge of the grounds of the Cranston Police Department, on Garfield Avenue, but organizers said the protest was not specifically directed at that force.

Besides contending that local and state police were acting like “federal immigration agents,” they criticized Governor Carcieri for signing an executive order in March that directed the state police and state correctional officers to work with federal authorities to enforce some aspects of immigration law.

“With that stroke of his pen” the governor added to the problem of racial profiling, said Harris, one of four speakers.

In a news release announcing the gathering, organizers said people have been incarcerated for days and even weeks simply for having expired licenses and have faced deportation proceedings because of misdemeanor charges such as driving without a license.

Harris said she was in a van with a group of people, including several minorities, that was stopped for no reason on Route 95 by the state police.

“It must have been very disappointing” that the van contained “no undocumented immigrants but rather a group of people of color attending a conference,” she said.

Racial profiling has been a hot-button issue for years. Studies began to suggest eight years ago that race affects which cars are stopped and searched in Rhode Island, and civil rights groups have said they want legislation to restrict some police practices and identify which officers are inappropriately stopping people. Police chiefs have replied that they don’t tolerate discriminatory enforcement and are working to better train their officers to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Yesterday’s gathering lasted about an hour and drew occasional honks from passing drivers who saw signs along both sides of the road.

Shannah Kurland, a member of the Olneyville Neighborhood Association, read aloud the names of people who have been detained and urged people who are citizens to pull over if they see someone being stopped or searched by the police and “see if they are OK.”

The gathering also drew several Brown University students, representing groups such as Third World Action and Students for a Democratic Society. Lindsey Gaydos, a senior majoring in developmental studies, said she and other students know people who have been affected by the current policies and wanted to voice their concern.

Kurland and Harris said there will be more gatherings — as many as are needed.

“Many of us have gathered before and we will continue to gather,” Harris said. “We don’t care if it’s raining or snowing.”

redgar@projo.com